# Youtube Transcript (`canadesk/youtube-transcript`) Actor

Extract transcripts (with timestamps) from YouTube videos.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/canadesk/youtube-transcript.md
- **Developed by:** [Canadesk Support](https://apify.com/canadesk) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, SEO tools, Videos
- **Stats:** 4 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$5.00/month + usage

To use this Actor, you pay a monthly rental fee to the developer. The rent is subtracted from your prepaid usage every month after the free trial period.You also pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher Apify subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#rental-actors

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## YouTube Transcript Scraper

A high-performance scraper to extract transcripts and subtitles directly from YouTube videos.

ℹ️ This scrapes public YouTube transcripts — no authentication required. It uses lightweight HTTP requests instead of heavy browser automation for maximum speed.

### Features

- **Batch URL Processing**: Extract transcripts from multiple YouTube videos in a single run.
- **Timestamp Mode**: Optionally include timestamps indicating exactly when each spoken segment occurs.
- **Smart Fallback Mechanisms**: Automatically tries multiple internal YouTube APIs (InnerTube, then HTML scraping fallback) for maximum reliability.
- **Clean Text Parsing**: Cleanly handles complex XML subtitle structures and HTML entities to return pure text.
- **High Performance Execution**: Runs fully headless via pure HTTP GET/POST requests, vastly outperforming Puppeteer approaches.
- **Proxy Support**: Integrates Apify Proxies seamlessly via Undici to bypass region or rate-limit blocks.

### Input Parameters

| Parameter | Type | Description |
|-----------|------|-------------|
| `startUrls` | Array | A list of YouTube video URLs to process (max 3 per run). |
| `includeTimestamps` | String | `"Yes"` to return timestamps with text, or `"No"` (default) for a single combined plain text string. |
| `proxy` | Object | Proxy configuration. Recommended for preventing region blocking. |

### Output

Data is stored in the default dataset in JSON format.

#### Example: Plain Text Mode (includeTimestamps="No")

```json
{
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9DwXeAtWrs",
  "transcript": "When the Romans officially pulled out of Britain in the fourth and fifth centuries AD, they left in their wake a patchwork of Brethonic and Romano British kingdoms scattered throughout [music] the island. Just like on the mainland, however, it didn't take long for warlike peoples on the peripheries to move in and take",
  "error": null
}
```

#### Example: With Timestamps (includeTimestamps="Yes")

```json
{
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9DwXeAtWrs",
  "transcript": [
    {
      "timestamp": "0:02",
      "text": "When the Romans officially pulled out of"
    },
    {
      "timestamp": "0:04",
      "text": "Britain in the fourth and fifth"
    },
    {
      "timestamp": "0:06",
      "text": "centuries AD,"
    },
    {
      "timestamp": "0:09",
      "text": "they left in their wake a patchwork of"
    },
    {
      "timestamp": "0:12",
      "text": "Brethonic and Romano British kingdoms"
    },
    {
      "timestamp": "0:16",
      "text": "scattered throughout [music] the island."
    },
    {
      "timestamp": "0:21",
      "text": "Just like on the mainland, however, it"
    },
    {
      "timestamp": "0:23",
      "text": "didn't take long for warlike peoples on"
    },
    {
      "timestamp": "0:26",
      "text": "the peripheries to move in and take"
    }
  ],
  "error": null
}
```

# Actor input Schema

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

A list of YouTube video URLs to extract transcripts from.

## `includeTimestamps` (type: `string`):

A toggle to include timestamps in the output (Yes/No).

## `proxy` (type: `object`):

Select proxies to be used by this actor.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWkb9FTq9RQ"
    }
  ],
  "includeTimestamps": "No",
  "proxy": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "startUrls": [
        {
            "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWkb9FTq9RQ"
        }
    ],
    "proxy": {
        "useApifyProxy": true,
        "apifyProxyGroups": [
            "RESIDENTIAL"
        ]
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("canadesk/youtube-transcript").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "startUrls": [{ "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWkb9FTq9RQ" }],
    "proxy": {
        "useApifyProxy": True,
        "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"],
    },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("canadesk/youtube-transcript").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWkb9FTq9RQ"
    }
  ],
  "proxy": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}' |
apify call canadesk/youtube-transcript --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=canadesk/youtube-transcript",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/8TUpAs2wdkcpKa7oc/builds/RdjW1ZOACrPJUdzPA/openapi.json